The Meteors are often viewed as the band who really cemented and defined the genre of psychobilly. If you don’t know, psychobilly is a movement that derives a lot from punk, but strongly bases itself on the 50s Rockabilly scene.
Think Elvis but if he was a punk…
There’s a variety of styles within the genre, from more straight sounding rockabilly stuff, to ripping punk horror shows.
The Meteors are decidedly of the latter type. Their sound is abrasive, dark, and raw.
“Little Red Riding Hood” is probably a song you’ve heard of. But not like this. The original version was done by Sam The Sham and the Pharoahs in 1966. It’s a typically 60s thing, which feels wholesome despite the lyrics.
The new lyrics themselves were written by Ronald Blackwell, and recast the Wolf of legendary as a man with bad intentions, posing as a sheep to walk a girl home, but being increasing unable to hide his predatory nature.
The Meteors’ version is aggressive and black hearted, with a gritty twang that gives away the rockabilly influence. It’s got the same melody as the Sam The Sham version, but the energy levels are significantly higher. Everything is cranked up to 11.
The growling, spitting vocals are perfect for a song lie this, and the eerie distorted country guitars solidify the menacing vibe even more.
The song was released as a single on the B side of “Stampede” in 1985.
Brilliantly dark!